Forever Is A Long Time
by Dark Ride
Summary: AU of the Dark One curse. Rumplestiltskin was granted immortality, but he would only stay awake for one year every century. The only way to break the curse was True Love's Kiss. So every year per century he would search for his true love to break his curse. Written for RSS 2015.


A/N: This was written for RSS 2015 for then **saviorswansong** (currently **reyberrie** ). Her prompt was _Curse: awakes once per century_

The title is taken from a song by Avantasia. Not S5A compliant regarding the Dark Ones. I picked some things I liked but that is all.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin had been a fool.

He had trusted the wrong man, made a deal he hadn't understood and it had cost him his son.

And now he was running out of time.

He had noticed at the beginning the lack of need for sleep. It had been useful, it had meant he could protect his son better. Then after Bae had been gone, it had given him more time to search for a solution. Until the day when his eyes had grown heavy and he had nodded off for a few hours.

Zoso had laughed at him and revealed the last part of what being the Dark One meant.

"There is too much power in the hands of those who hold the dagger. This is a way to protect the Realms. All the power in the world, but it can only be used for a year. After that, it's a century of sleep. A hundred years is enough for the people and land to recover from a Dark One's reign. You have a month left to make arrangements."

"What arrangements?"

"To hide yourself for that century. Otherwise, you'll wake up a slave."

The distaste in Zoso's voice told the rest of the story. That must have been how the Duke had taken control of him. Rumplestiltskin never wanted to feel helpless and controlled by the whims of others again. He would hide well and after he woke again, he could continue his search for-

"The boy will be long gone by then, spinner. Give up!"

The magic Rumplestiltskin unleashed in his desperation-fueled anger leveled his cottage and the surrounding forest in a three mile radius.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin didn't want to give up on his son. If Zoso refused to help him then he would find someone who would. Even if that someone was in part responsible for what he had become. The seer girl from years ago.

"It has been a while, Rumplestiltskin."

The girl didn't look as pitiful as he remembered her. The fourteen years that had passed since their last meeting had been kinder to her than to him. She looked peaceful, seated under an old oak tree.

"Do you know why I'm here?"

The eyeless face turned to him but her hands remained folded in her lap.

"You lost your son and now you want him back."

"It's as you said back then. My actions that day... you knew this would happen."

"I saw many possibilities. I told you the one most likely to pass."

He glowered at her, useless as it was. He could kill the girl, she wouldn't be able to defend herself. Zoso was urging him to do so but Rumplestiltskin resisted. His son was more important than revenge and he needed to know if there was a chance, no matter how small.

"Is there a possibility now? Is there a way to find him, even a hundred years from now?"

She raised a hand, the eye on her palm blinking in the sudden light.

"There is one, a very slight chance. So many things could go wrong and even one doing so will ruin it. But yes, it is possible."

"How?"

Rumplestiltskin wasn't above begging. What good was his pride without his son?

"You will find your son if and only if you are no longer a Dark One."

Zoso hissed in anger, his voice overlapping with others, the previous Dark Ones, all worried for their existence. Words and threats came from them, speaking rapidly, telling him no, it was a trick, he should kill the girl, kill her before she ruined everything.

Rumplestiltskin didn't listen to them. He had heard threats before, he had been mocked and sneered at and if he could close his ears to those hurtful words back when he had been but a human, why should he listen now? They needed him as their vessel, as their connection to the world. He didn't need them, not anymore.

"Can that be done?"

There must have been attempts before, attempts to destroy the Dark One. He could recall them, recall the weapons and magic, all futile and useless in the end. The darkness protected its own.

"Tell me, Dark One, what are the fundamental laws of magic?" the girl asked quietly.

"You cannot turn back time, you cannot force love and you cannot raise the dead. None of those can help me."

"There is one more rule. Not a prohibition like the others." The girl smiled a little. "Any curse can be broken. Even one as strong as the curse that made the Dark One."

The voices were quiet now, too quiet. Maybe they didn't believe their power could be taken away.

"What could have such a power?" Rumplestiltskin asked, not daring to hope yet.

"True Love, Rumplestiltskin. It can break any curse, even yours. If you find your True Love, you will find your son, even though centuries may pass."

"Then it is hopeless," he murmured. No one could love him so much. No one.

"The decision is yours, as it was the last time we spoke. It can be done but not if you give up at the very beginning. You have suffered so much for your son, is having a hope harder than that?"

The girl tilted her head and raised both of her hands before he could reply.

"Strong enough to care for the weak, bright enough to outshine darkness, brave enough to love even you. That's who can help you. If you let yourself hope."

With everything that had happened to him, it was still that hardest thing Rumplestiltskin had had to do. But if hope was what he needed, then hope he would.

* * *

He could have chosen a castle. He could have built himself a grand mausoleum. He could have made a magic-protected sanctuary at the bottom of the ocean. But Rumplestiltskin wouldn't feel safe in any of those. The grandeur would lure thieves. The magic would lure sorcerers. Within a few years, people would know that there was something or someone important hidden in such a place. That had been Zoso's mistake. A tomb too grand, magic too ostentative, eventually drawing people who had known enough about legends to realize the power hidden beneath the numerous protections.

No. A simple cottage deep in the woods, enchanted to look a little better than a hovel, would be more than enough for Rumplestiltskin's century long rest. No elaborate traps bristling with magic, but rather a few simple illusions and misdirection spells, benign spell work that people would think beneath the Dark One's reputation.

He would sleep a dreamless sleep for a century and once he woke up, he would start looking for the one who could help him find his son.

* * *

He didn't find her the first time. He traveled far and wide, following rumours and leaving behind even more of them.

The Dark One is looking for something, people would whisper in the taverns and inns. The Dark One is preoccupied with some kind of a personal business, the advisors would tell their lords and kings. The Dark One will do anything to reach his goals, we must be on guard constantly, the Blue Fairy would caution her fairies.

The Dark One himself could care less. He found many women who were strong or brave or bright but neither of them felt right. His year awake was spent quickly with little to show for it. He had made some deals, gained some influence but that was of a fleeting importance. When he retreated into his little cottage, he was no closer to Bae than he had been a century ago.

His second year, an incident early on made him rethink his strategy. When he was called upon to help heal a dying lover of a wealthy lord, he was surprised to find the lover to be a man. He knew very little about relationships like that but after he secured his price - an old magical map from the time before the Realms split apart - and saw how happy the two men were to be given more time, he started thinking on it.

Love was love and the seer had never said his True Love was to be a woman. Yes, most of the time, lovers were a man and a woman, but not always. Just because he had loved a woman in the past, didn't mean he couldn't come to love a man eventually.

"If you managed to love Milah," Nimue said snidely, "you can love anyone."

He couldn't exactly disagree.

Unfortunately, even when he expanded his search to include men as well as women, the results were the same. His True Love continued eluding him.

* * *

There was that old saying about the third time being the charm. Rumplestiltskin knew more about charms and spells than anyone living and he knew how powerful some numbers could be. Unfortunately, the saying was just that, a saying.

Three hundred years and seven months had passed since he had lost his son. The seer's words of the passing centuries having no effect on his efforts were of little comfort to him upon waking up the third time from his long sleep.

A brief sweep with magic assured him his cottage had not been disturbed recently. The spells had held up well over the years and a short incantation restored them to full power.

The first order of business was to find out exactly how much had changed in the past hundred years. There were long standing treaties and agreements between him and various kingdoms, treaties that needed renewing or renegotiating. There was always a chance that a war had changed the borders and ruling dynasties and in that case, reminders would have to be made why exactly the Dark One stood apart from it all.

It was a necessary but cumbersome task. It could take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, delaying his search. Yet it couldn't be helped.

Rumplestiltskin spent the next week travelling to various capital towns, listening in on a gossip and appearing to the rulers as necessary. There had been few changes in the past hundred years and the old agreements were renewed easily. The pattern of his waking year was so far similar to the previous ones until one day in the tavern.

Even wearing his hood, news spread quickly about him being present. It wouldn't be long before first supplicants appeared and then he would have to decide whether or not to listen to them. He might, depending on what they would want and what they were willing to offer in exchange. The magic had its price and so did he.

The woman who came up to him was still a surprise, though. She was very pretty, easily one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She didn't hesitate upon coming close enough to see beneath the hood and the scaly face beneath. She met his eyes without flinching and she didn't fidget when he let the silence between them stretch far beyond what was polite in an effort to unnerve her.

"My name is Belle," she said when it became clear he wouldn't speak first. "And I presume you're the Dark One."

"Whatever gave me away, dearie?" he asked with a grin that showed off his teeth.

"The innkeeper," she replied dryly. "And your appearance was a big clue, too."

Rumplestiltskin barely held back a snort. She had courage, this Belle.

"Yes, I am a bit... conspicuous," he said. "The question is, what would a noble-born lady like you want from me?"

She frowned a bit at that, biting her lip in what was clearly a life-long habit.

"How do you know I'm a noble-born?"

"A trade secret," he quipped. She had done well to blend in, her clothes simple enough but he had been a spinner before it all. He knew about fabrics and dyes and tailoring and he recognized a custom work when he saw one. Her jacket alone was worth as much as the tavern in which they sat.

"I have a friend," she started, obviously letting his knowledge of her origins go. He would interrupt anyone else with a snide _a friend indeed?_ but something about her manner indicated it wasn't a poorly thought out lie to protect a reputation. "Her brothers were kidnapped and I need your help to rescue them."

"You do, huh? Well, why me and not a platoon of soldiers?"

"Because no one dares to go against the one who took them," Belle said. She leaned forward, her voice going low. "It was Pan."

The name struck Rumplestiltskin as a lightning. He hadn't thought of his father in, well, centuries. He kept his face impassive with a lot of effort, merely raising an eyebrow.

"Pan? Of Neverland?"

"Yes. He took them three months ago. Merida asked me to help her find a way to his land and I did but I'm not sure we would stand a chance against him. Merida is a good fighter but I'm more of a scholar. I mean, I can defend myself when necessary but he uses the older boys as an army and against such numbers, the two of us won't be enough."

"I'm not a warrior, dearie," he reminded her but she waved off his concern.

"But you have magic. I know the rules, I know there will be a price to pay and I'm willing to pay anything."

He regarded her seriously. She appeared honest. She meant what she had said. She wouldn't try to haggle her way out of the agreed upon price. There was something in her eyes that made him want to trust her.

"Why would you do that, even for a friend?" he asked, to gain some time to think things over. He wasn't eager to face his father but he wanted to help her.

"Because it's the right thing to do," she said as if that should have been obvious. "Because we're talking about children who should be protected not taken away from their homes. Because no one else is willing to do anything about this and I'm sick of that!"

Her sudden outburst surprised him but she wasn't done yet.

"I looked it up in the old books. I went to the giants and got the magic beans to travel to Neverland. I asked the fairies for some of their dust. I got an old alchemy recipe for a sleeping powder from a friend from Kithai. I even studied books on strategy and found an old map of Neverland to better prepare an assault. But Merida's council had already decided the risk is too great and won't let her go and my father said he had indulged me enough as it is. I need someone strong I can trust. And they say you never break a deal."

Rumplestiltskin's throat had gone dry. Belle was, without a doubt, brave. She was strong-willed, she was selfless, she stood up for the weak. And she was good. She was so good it almost hurt. She was a bright light that made him want to be more than a Dark One, more than a lame coward who couldn't save his son without the darkest of magics.

She was the one who could help him find his son. And he had a way to get her cooperation. If only she wasn't so beautiful. It made it hard to believe she could ever love him. But he had to hope. Yes, he would hope.

"My price will be high," he said. "You might not want to pay it."

"Tell me," she said, not the barest hint of apprehension in her voice.

"A kiss. I want a kiss from you."

She blinked, puzzled.

"That's all? A kiss is all it takes? That's not much at all," she said.

"Used to a lot of kissing, dearie?" he sneered, hurt instead of relieved she hadn't balked at his offer.

"What? No!" It was her turn to be offended. "I just meant you usually take something more precious."

"Oh trust me, a kiss is precious enough when it's the right kind."

She quieted at that and looked down. She nibbled at her lip and then she looked up and nodded.

"Deal."

* * *

His second trip to Neverland had gone better than the first one. Belle had taken his hand before she had thrown the magic bean to the ground, opening the portal between the worlds. They had jumped in together and what felt like eternity later, they landed on a sandy beach. He helped Belle to her feet and she smiled at him in thanks. The other Dark Ones had gone quiet, only watching. There was a certain resignation in them as if they knew their lives were coming to a close.

"What now?" Rumplestiltskin asked. Belle had been the one to plan everything, he was there to provide magical assistance.

"We'll head to the centre of the island," she said, pulling out an old map. "There should be some kind of a lake. It makes sense for a camp to be there."

He nodded and went first. He stretched his magic around, trying to find if there was anything or anyone dangerous around. Belle kept close to him, watching their backs. The ambush still took them unawares.

One moment, the jungle around them was quiet, the next it teemed with half-grown boys wearing masks and wielding sticks and rocks and shouting at them.

"Intruders! Catch them!"

Rumplestiltskin was barely aware of Belle tossing small egg-like objects towards where the children stood closest to each other. Dust clouds rose when the objects broke and the boys coughed a couple of times before sinking to the ground unconscious. He himself merely sent out a small wave of energy that knocked the rest to the ground. He didn't want to hurt them and a quick sleep spell later, the attack was over.

Belle was already bent over the unconscious children, making sure they weren't seriously hurt from falling to the ground. Rumplestiltskin stood above her, keeping watch while she pulled the masks off and smoothed out unruly hair. He heard her sniff a bit and caught something that sounded like 'take them all back'. They couldn't. Some of the children had been here for too many years, their parents long dead. They would find Merida's brothers and take them back where they belonged. Maybe later on, they could come back for the others and deal with Pan once and for all but not yet.

Rumplestiltskin looked down at another boy, taller and probably older than the rest. The colour of his hair reminded him of Bae's and he watched with interest when Belle took off his mask.

He probably alarmed her when he gasped and sank to his knees, sobbing as he gathered the boy close to him, gazing at the face that had never faded from his heart. It was his Baelfire, his precious lost boy. And he had found him, because of Belle.

* * *

He cradled the unconscious form of his son while they walked away from the ambush site and he filled Belle on most of his story. He left out his search for a True Love and his suspicion of her being the one. She had already helped him find his son, he wouldn't burden her with himself. It was the least he could do.

She listened quietly and her eyes shone with tears. She didn't condemn the things he had done for his son, his cowardice and deal with the darkness. She admired his resilience and told him so, her plainly shown respect embarrassing him more than a scorn would. She saw both the good and evil in him but only seemed to notice the good.

After he was done speaking, they sat quietly for a while. Belle scooted closer to him, stroking the brown curls from Bae's forehead.

"He looks a bit like you," she said and Rumplestiltskin felt the fatherly pride fill him for the first time in three hundred years.

"Well, if this isn't nauseatingly sweet," a voice said from behind them.

Rumplestiltskin got to his feet as Belle gathered Bae closer to her, glaring at the intruder. Strangely enough, Rumplestiltskin trusted her to protect his son as he himself would. It was the knowledge of those two people depending on him that made him face up to his father without a fear.

"Pan," he hissed. "What do you want?"

"I come in peace, Rumple," the seemingly harmless boy said. "I was surprised when you came to the island but I should have known. She's right, he does look a bit like you. I guess that's why I never liked him."

"What. Do. You. Want?" Rumplestiltskin bit out each word, letting his magic swell around him in warning.

"This is why I came to talk to you," Pan spoke quickly. "I'm not interested in fighting the Dark One, not when he's protecting what's his. I came to make a deal. You do those, don't you?"

"What kind of a deal?" Belle asked, sounding far more suspicious than she had been in the tavern.

"Leave the island now, without fighting me and I won't stop you. You can take your runt, too."

Rumplestiltskin glanced toward Belle who mouthed Merida at him.

"There are three other boys you took recently. We want to take those as well."

"The red-headed shrimps? Sure, they're almost as annoying as you were."

It seemed almost too good to be true. But if Pan wanted to let them go for some reason, it made things easier.

"And you won't pursue us?"

"Nah, you know I'm not interested in happy families."

Any other time those words would have hurt. But not today. Today, he had his son back and that was enough.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin thought he would have to go to great lengths to gain back Bae's trust and he was ready to do anything it would take. In the end, a heartfelt apology was enough to see them reunited in tears. Belle smiled at them and said she would come back after she took Merida's brothers home.

"I made a deal with your Papa and I still need to hold up my end of the bargain."

"It won't be necessary," Rumplestiltskin tried to say but Belle looked at him with a strangely piercing gaze.

"I never broke my word and I'm not about to start. I'll be back in a week."

The father and son looked after her before Bae broke the silence.

"She's nice. And pretty."

"She is,' Rumplestiltskin agreed. "She helped me find you and that's a debt I can never repay."

"You are different from before."

"I found out what's really important to me. Who's really important to me."

Bae beamed up at him and the darkness in Rumple's heart retreated a bit.

* * *

Belle came back in a week, as promised and Bae made himself scarce with a huge grin. He had wormed the whole story out of Rumplestiltskin and he would be more than content with Belle as his new mom.

"So, I owe you a kiss."

"You don't owe me anything. You brought me to my son, that's more than I could ever repay."

She frowned at him before smiling.

"Fine. The deal was paid in full by my indirect help finding Bae. But what if," she said as she walked closer until they stood only a few inches apart. "What if I want to kiss you just because I want to."

They stared at each other and Rumplestiltskin couldn't help but flick his eyes down to her lips. She was biting the lower one again.

"I was told that I would find my son when the Dark One curse was broken by a True Love's kiss," he confessed because he needed her to know what kissing him would mean.

"Well," Belle said as she wound her arms around his neck. "I guess this is the one time I can go along with what the fate has planned for me."

It would take a much stronger man than him to resist her. But in this one case, the weakness was a strength in disguise. He leaned down and kissed her and when he felt the darkness leave, he felt happier than he had felt in centuries. She and Bae were worth the wait.

THE END


End file.
